


Coffee Beans and Chalk Dust

by fiveyaaas



Series: In Another Life [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25751413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas
Summary: Vanya didn’t enjoy her job. It wasn’t fulfilling or even remotely what she wanted from her life, but she did enjoy the distracted physicist who would always order a black coffee. He was a little quirky, always muttering about a theory he was working on to himself in the table closest to the counter. He sometimes would glance up at Vanya and offer her a curt smile, and she would smirk, grab his cup, and get him more coffee.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: In Another Life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868005
Comments: 20
Kudos: 200





	Coffee Beans and Chalk Dust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [soitgoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soitgoes/gifts).



> I was asked to do a coffee shop AU, so here it goes!

Vanya didn’t  _ enjoy  _ her job. It wasn’t fulfilling or even remotely what she wanted from her life, but she did enjoy the distracted physicist who would always order a black coffee. He was a little quirky, always muttering about a theory he was working on to himself in the table closest to the counter. He sometimes would glance up at Vanya and offer her a curt smile, and she would smirk, grab his cup, and get him more coffee. 

He was sipping at a cup of coffee now, writing in his notebook with a black ink pen. She knew that he probably favored chalk when he was at his job because he always had a little dust on his cheek that she was tempted to brush off for him, but she obviously never did. 

“Dr. Hargreeves, I think your lunch break is over,” Vanya commented, handing him a to go cup with a smile. On days he wasn’t working, he’d stay for hours, but he had an hour for lunch on work days.

“Oh, thank you, Vanya, I got distracted.”

She smiled at him, reaching for his mug. He was getting his briefcase after having put back on his jacket when she realized her mistake in not paying attention as water boiled over from the order she was making and burned herself. 

“Fuck!” she whimpered loudly. Her boss would likely fire her for cussing so loudly in front of the customers, but she was in serious pain, hopping up and down and waving her hand like she could shake the burn off. A few customers glanced her way, and Dr. Hargreeves glared at them.

“Vanya,” he said calmly. “Let me look.” 

She showed him her arm and hand where the burn was and he made a small contemplative noise. “It’s not horrible, but you need to run it over cool water for five or so minutes and get aloe vera on it then. Do you have any aloe vera?”

“No, Dr. Hargreeves, I don’t have aloe vera,” she snapped. 

He made a confused noise. “Why do you not have aloe vera? Go run the burn under water, I’ll just go to the pharmacy next door and grab a few things while you do.”

“Isn’t your doctorate in theoretical physics?”

He laughed, “I’ll be back quick.”

Her boss, the owner of this little shop, luckily heard none of this as he was working in the back, so she was safe to run water over at the sink without distraction. 

Well. With mild distraction. Customers were lining up behind her, making impatient noises and comments like “it’s always the pretty ones that think they’re too good to serve you.” Vanya snorted, at least they thought she was pretty.

When Dr. Hargreeves came back in what she imagined to be the fastest trip someone could take to a pharmacy, he saw the crowd around her and barked out, “Get coffee somewhere else.”

They all glared at him, someone asking if they could speak to his manager. He rolled his eyes, shooing them away. 

“Got the aloe vera,” he chirped, and she realized that there were only two or three customers that had already been served there. They were all regulars, used to Dr. Hargreeves’s antics. “I also brought some gauze, and I’ll wrap it once you’ve got the aloe vera on. Come sit down.”

She sat, and her boss came to the front at the moment she was sitting. She started to get up, but Dr. Hargreeves set a hand on her knee to keep her from standing. Vanya felt her face warm, glancing over to the owner of the shop.

“Luther,” Dr. Hargreeves said, and Vanya was confused why he even knew his name. “She burned her hand, can you call someone else in?”

“Yeah,” Luther nodded, then he glanced over at Dr. Hargreeves. “Is Dad going to want me to call a lawyer?”

Dr. Hargreeves rolled his eyes. “No, it’s a minor injury. Vanya, you’re not gonna sue our dad are you?”

“You guys have the same dad?”

Luther smiled. “We’re fraternal twins!”

“He got this coffee shop from a trust fund,” Dr. Hargreeves said, gesturing to give Vanya his hand. 

“I did not,” Luther said. “Besides, I like this place. It’s not much, but it’s better than whatever company he would have made me take over.”

“You didn’t have to work for him at all. I didn’t.” Dr. Hargreeves grabbed a bottle of aloe vera from the bag from the pharmacy. He spread it liberally over the burn, and she felt her heart race as his hands touched her so gently. 

“You didn’t explain how you know first aid,” Vanya commented. Luther smiled at her before going to the counter to take charge of orders. 

“Luther’s shit at making coffee,” Dr. Hargreeves said leaning in conspiratorially. He registered her comment then, and he explained, “I was in medical school, but I quit. I was always more of a labrat, and I realized I was more interested in science than the patients. I got my degree in physics and now I can only focus on science. Plus, there’s more math, which I enjoy.”

She smiled at him, and he flushed. He reached for the gauze beside him. 

“You must think I’m so clumsy,” she commented. 

He stared at her, completely serious. “We are all victims of physics.”

She started laughing, not able to help herself and he glanced down, flushing more. 

“You’re my favorite customer, Dr. Hargreeves,” she said, leaning in to say it.

“You’re my favorite worker here,” he said with a beam.

“Isn’t Luther your twin?”

“He’ll get over it.” 

She smiled at him, and he finished bandaging her arm then. 

“All done,” he said, not moving his hand though. 

“Dr. Hargreeves?”

“Call me Five, please.”

“That’s a bad name.”

“My dad sucks.”

She started laughing again, which felt inappropriate but he didn’t seem to mind. She finally let herself reach over and wipe the chalk off his cheek. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Also, I brought back my Fiveya tumblr if you want to follow, the url is https://fiveyaaas.tumblr.com/  
> (If you have requests for prompts too, you can put them in the ask box if you want and I’ll post them on here and there!)


End file.
